If you look at the score of the Blackhawks' latest game — a 4-0 loss to the Stars — you might think Corey Crawford did not have his best night in net.

You would not be wrong in that assertion. Heck, even coach Joel Quenneville would agree.

On Tuesday night, when talking about the Hawks' penalty kill, which allowed a power-play goal in the first period to Jason Spezza, Quenneville implied the goal was not the fault of the penalty kill unit. Spezza sneaked the puck into a small opening as Crawford tried to cover the post.

"We gave up a goal that wasn't a scoring chance," Quenneville said.

So be it. But headed into their short break for Christmas, the Hawks would not be in as good of a position in the standings — tied for fourth-most points in the league — if not for the play of Crawford. Outside of Tuesday, Crawford has been brilliant for the Hawks in December (7-3-1, 19 goals allowed, three shutouts).

"I'm just experienced and learning from mistakes," Crawford said. "I'm really focused throughout the whole game, when maybe a little stretch in November I was kind of off and on during games."

Crawford always has been an easy lightning rod for fans. They see a goal and it's easy to blame the last guy who had a chance to stop it. And despite winning two Stanley Cups, Crawford can still be a convenient punching bag.

Even around the league, Crawford's name does not get thrown around much in conversations about the league's top goaltenders. Maybe it's nights like Tuesday that keep that from happening. For instance, to add insult to injury after Spezza's goal, Crawford got a skate caught and ended up doing a hard, comical face-plant into the ice.

But Crawford at times has kept the Hawks from face-planting during some critical moments this season — like when Duncan Keith was out for 10 games in late October through mid-November and the Hawks could have fallen behind the pack in the competitive Central Division.

Crawford posted five victories in his nine starts over that stretch — and that included back-to-back 1-0 overtime triumphs over the Lightning and Ducks — a steal of four points during a time the Hawks struggled to get anything going offensively outside of the Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov line.

The last three weeks, Crawford has been playing some of the best hockey of his career.

When asked Sunday if this was his best stretch ever, Crawford said, "I feel like you ask me that every time I have a good stretch."

Maybe that's because it seems to be happening more often.

"He has had some big games for us," Kane said. "I would say he seems as focused as ever and locked in. Even at practice, sometimes you go down and you think you have him on a shot and he's still finding ways to save it."

A version of this article appeared in print on December 26, 2015, in the Sports section of the Chicago Tribune with the headline "Stopping pucks if not his critics - Crawford absorbs unusual share of barbs despite carrying Hawks" —
Today's paperToday's paper | Subscribe